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The Bear That Wasn't (film)

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Wikipedia article




'The Bear That Wasn't' is a 1967 American animated short film directed by Chuck Jones and based on the children's book 'The Bear That Wasn't' by Frank Tashlin. It was produced and released by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer under its MGM Animation/Visual Arts division.

Production



The film was directed by Frank Tashlin's former Warner Bros. Cartoons colleague Chuck Jones. It was the final animated short subject made by MGM and its subsidiary MGM Animation/Visual Arts, and also the second-to-last animated project for MGM ('The Phantom Tollbooth' would be the last).

While mostly the same as the book, the short features slight differences from the book, such as the elderly president of the factory being depicted as a dwarf whose face is never seen, as well as a bear cub also repeating exactly the same claim of the bear being a "silly man" when the bear is put in the zoo.

Despite being credited as a producer, Tashlin had no involvement in the short though Jones credited him only in the hopes of Tashlin receiving an Oscar for Best Short should the short win the Oscar, which it didn't (in those days, Oscars for Best Short were given to the producers, not the director). Overall, Tashlin was dissatisfied with this adaptation of his book, feeling that it didn't present its original message very well.[http://www.michaelbarrier.com/Interviews/Tashlin/tashlin_interview.htm Michael Barrier interview with Frank Tashlin, 1971]

Availability



'The Bear That Wasn't' is available on 'Looney Tunes Golden Collection: Volume 3', Disc 3 on the "From the Vaults" section and on the 'Looney Tunes Platinum Collection: Volume 1' Blu-ray box-set on Disc 3 as a bonus feature. It is also available on the Boomerang subscription streaming service under Volume 6 of 'MGM Cartoons' titled 'Bear That Wasn't'.

References




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